Photo Column from 07/09/08

This is a column I wrote over the summer for the DE that I never posted on here because I wasn't actively updating my blog. Now that it's on here, my man MESSE JESSE MEYERS in the KS can see it. The picture's been on here before, but the column hasn't. Student advisor Wendy gave me a piece of candy for it, one of the DE's prestigious weekly awards.

My internship for The Hutchinson News in Hutchinson, KS was unquestionably an eventful one. I spent all spring taking photographs of star athletes, horrible car crashes, violent criminals, tornado-torn towns and even the President of the United States. The photo staff at the News is well-organized and almost always had something for me to go shoot (40+ hours per week), so it was often difficult to find free time or effort to pursue photographic projects of my own. When I did, however, the world of skateboarding photography opened up to me. Hutchinson, a city of around 45,000 people, has a few skate parks and shops that I had driven by on almost a daily basis and it was easy to find someone who knew the ropes in the city’s skating community. That’s when I met Jesse.

“Messe” Jesse Meyers, pictured here jumping a ramp at Hutchinson’s Carey Park, works part-time at a local shop, Disabled Skate & BMX, and has been skating just about as long as he’s been walking. At 25 years old he has four professional sponsorships and receives all of his skateboards and much of his clothing for free. Skating is pretty much his life and he was more than willing to head out for a photo shoot the first time we met. After that, he became the best friend in Kansas I have. Every day after work, we’d get together to do some skate sequences. Other times, we just played video games and had a few beers. I’ll admit it was probably the most fun taking pictures I have ever had, which is surprising to me, because I wasn’t even being paid to do it. I was easily putting around 1,500 frames on my camera per day, and it finally croaked on me, but I was having a hell of a time while doing it. Even though I was working off the clock for my own interest, I really felt like I was doing something worthwhile, which, in journalism, sometimes is a feeling that’s hard to find.

Jesse helped me realize that friendship, respect and understanding of people are what bring the best out of us as (photo) journalists. He’s had a hard life of pain and passion that, through our friendship, is forever my story to tell. In my opinion, the fact that something is newsworthy doesn’t exactly make it a great photograph or article, at least not to the one telling the story. If there’s no decent relationship between the subject and the journalist, then the story will only ever be half told. My only hope for the news industry is that those coming into this career, as well as those already in it, at some point get to learn the lesson as I have.

-TB